Glove Etiquette for All Occasions

Seldom do people wish to hear about the etiquette of wearing gloves except during the high season of charity balls, gala events, weddings, proms and formal dinners.

Dear Miss Etiquette: Can you please give us advice about the etiquette for over-the-elbow kid gloves worn at very formal events, such as cocktail parties, dinners, charity galas, debutantes balls and weddings, including gloves for the bride and bridesmaids? 

How about the etiquette for the right and graceful ways of donning and undonning these kid gloves? How do they go with bracelets and jewelry? Are they worn over the glove although they are difficult to undo? When shaking hands and when in the introduction line, should we be gloved? And what about a hand kiss while we have our white gloves on? The rules found with regard to the above, are often different. The formal etiquette seems to require staying gloved except while eating and for the ring ceremony. Signed, Concerned

Dear Concerned: Seldom do people wish to hear about the etiquette of wearing gloves except during the high season of charity balls, gala events, weddings, proms and formal dinners. 

With respect to kid gloves, may I say kid gloves are made from the leather of young goats? Gloves and shoes made of kid skin are soft and smooth and require a great deal of care, as it is delicate leather. The term handle with kid gloves means to treat with care and tact. Men, as well as women, may wear kid gloves. 

Let me tell the gentlemen something. If you are wearing an outdoor glove, always remove the glove on your right hand before you shake hands. However, if you are an usher at a wedding or at a formal ball, you leave on gloves intended to be worn indoors. 

If you are walking down the street and it is impossible for you to remove your right glove, you are to use the expression “Please excuse my glove.” 

A lady never takes off her gloves to shake hands. There are only two countries that abide by that rule: the United States of America and England. 

If a lady is wearing gardening gloves and the gloves are muddy and wet, she simply says she is sorry she cannot shake hands. 

Gloves worn over the elbow at very formal events usually have buttons at the wrist and are called 18-button gloves. 

Etiquette dictates you walk out of your home wearing your gloves. As gloves are considered under garments, no one is supposed to see you putting them on. 

Young ladies wear gloves on their wedding day. There are gloves made especially for weddings in that the ring finger on the left-hand glove is especially constructed for the wedding ring placement. With regard to the bride, the mothers, the bridesmaids and the matron of honor, gloves remain on the hand in the receiving line and are removed before dinner. 

When a young lady attends a cocktail party, she leaves her gloves on until the first sign of food. Once the hors d’oeuvres are presented, gloves are removed and either placed in the handbag or placed in the inside suit pocket of the young lady's escort. The young lady excuses herself and finds the powder room to remove the gloves. If that is inconvenient, she should remove her gloves with very little fanfare, quietly and out of sight. 

Remember, one does not eat with gloves on. Common sense dictates you do not wear jewelry on top of gloves. Rings and bracelets are worn under gloves. But there is an exception. It is the evening bracelet made of platinum and diamonds, an original piece of art created especially for formal events and worn over a gloved hand. 

No single young lady accepts a hand kiss from a gentleman and no gentleman is ever so forward as to expect a young lady who is single to accept his hand kiss; how rude. 

Tend to your gloves when you put them away so they are fresh for your next outing. — By Anita Shower in the Times-Press-Recorder, 2002

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura, J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Edwardian Etiquette for Men’s Gloves

It is considered good form for a man to remove the glove on the right hand before he shakes hands, except when meeting a person in the street. It would make an awkward pause for him to have to stop and take off the glove.

Men's Gloves

When paying a call a man does not keep on his gloves after he enters the drawing room. It is considered good form for a man to remove the glove on the right hand before he shakes hands with any one, except at an evening function, where gloves are worn all of the time, or when meeting a person in the street, when it would make an awkward pause for him to have to stop and take off the glove. – From “Good Form”, 1909

 🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

How to Wear Gloves Properly

 

“During her early years as an etiquette writer, the late Emily Post advised women to put their gloves on before they stepped out of their homes. She later conceded that there were times when gloves were not necessary. Today, the rules are greatly relaxed, but gloves should be worn when going to a formal luncheon, dinner, reception or dance. They are de rigueur on the streets of large towns and cities. They should be worn to and from church.”—1962

Wardrobe Of Gloves Suggested

ALTHOUGH wildly colored or printed gloves crop up periodically in fashion, authorities on etiquette agree that they are rarely correct. The arbiters favor classic gloves in subdued shades. They wince when they are confronted with what one of them calls “weird” materials such as silver or gold lame, fancy embroidery, or costumes in which the hat, handbag, shoes and gloves are of a matching color. 

Gloves, these arbiters maintain, are part of the background. They should not be a focal point. As a result, a good glove wardrobe for street and evening wear often is organized around neutral colors — beige, gray, black, white, navy and brown.

During her early years as an etiquette writer, the late Emily Post advised women to put their gloves on before they stepped out of their homes. She later conceded that there were times when gloves were not necessary. Today, the rules are greatly relaxed, but gloves should be worn when going to a formal luncheon, dinner, reception or dance. They are de rigueur on the streets of large towns and cities. They should be worn to and from church.

Short Gloves Removed

Generally, gloves should be removed before a woman smokes, eats, drinks, puts on make-up or handles merchandise in a shop. Long, elbow-length gloves, often worn to formal dinners and dances, are treated differently. They may be left on for dancing, or unbuttoned at the wrist and the finger-ends tucked into the wrist opening, whenever a woman smokes or drinks. They should always be completely removed when a woman sits down to dinner.


Gloves are worn when a woman shakes hands, either as the hostess, or guests in the receiving line at a formal reception. It is suitable to wear bracelets over long gloves, but rings should be worn under, never over, any kind of gloves. Gloves are made in a variety of lengths. Two-button gloves are wrist length. Four-button are bracelet length. Eight-button come to the elbow. The longest gloves, worn with evening gowns, come within an inch or two of the shoulder.


Shorter lengths usually are worn with longer sleeves and vice versa. Very short gloves, which are young looking, are sometimes worn with sleeveless dresses in the summertime. Elbow-length gloves are often worn crushed, not full length, to fill the space between the hand and a longer sleeve. 

Color consultants favor gloves in a shade that is paler or darker than the clothes it with which they are to be worn. White gloves are the late-day gloves, except in some warm climates and in some cities in the summer. Black kid gloves start in the morning and go all the way through the evening. A general rule one fashion advisor advocates is polished leather gloves– kid or glacé– with tweeds, mohairs and lusterless fabrics. — The New York Times, 1962

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Gilded Age Etiquette of Gloves and Fans

Etiquipedia has not found any other resource stating that women wore gloves when “taking tea” but it is possible the authors actually meant a literal definition of ‘taking the tea,’ and that the gloves were removed prior to ‘drinking’ said tea. Then again, the author may not take into consideration that history was littered with people exhibiting bad manners, just as they do today. This is just one example... Why bother removing one’s gloves for dinner, when one can just unbutton them at the wrists, tuck the ‘fingers’ under, and shove them back as the blithely unthinking character Michelle Pfeiffer played in the film, ‘Age of Innocence’ did? Plenty of women were said to have ignored the etiquette of the day, and used this method to get to their food more quickly at social events and suppers. It remains tacky, gauche and totally incorrect!

Women wore long, over-the-elbow gloves, for dinners. These were taken off at the dinner table and kept in one's lap while one ate. It was not easy taking off a tight fitting set of gloves and keeping them on one's lap when wearing a slick silk dress. 

Etiquette books warned against leaving the gloves on, and just folding back the portion that covered the hand. So this must have been a common expediency. 

A common sight at the end of dinner, when the women were ready to withdraw, was men down on their hands and knees picking up the gloves and fans that had fallen to the floor during the dinner.

When one took tea, one wore gloves, but one took off gloves to eat at that same tea. Women put on gloves to shake hands while men would remove their right glove to perform this honor.  A hostess would never wear gloves. — From Forgotten Elegance, 2001

 🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Dining Etiquette and Gloved Ones

                            

“To eat with gloves on is female snobbery.” — There are many things one can do whilst wearing a lovely pair of gloves. But, ladies, it is incorrect to wear rings over gloves or eat whilst wearing them!

Another Etiquette Query

“One in Doubt” asks whether etiquette requires a lady to keep her gloves on while partaking of refreshments at an evening party.


Now, Miss Bwoun did try, in a very silly way, some years ago, to foster that absurd fashion of eating with her gloves on. If she had not been laughed out of it, she would have worn her Marquise ring outside of her glove. To eat with gloves on is female snobbery. 

Young women who go out to parties may be lavish of gloves, and may be indifferent to smearing them with lobster salad, or to have the first finger and thumb darkened where the spoon touches them. But nothing is prettier than the freshness of a woman's hand, and the best fitting glove is, after all, but an awkward thing. Gloved hands that feed, to keep up the whole dignity of the thing, should find mouths which were hidden behind veils. — The New York Times, July 1880

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Men’s Glove Etiquette

In the “bad old days” it was a capital offense to shake a woman’s hand with your glove on.

Male Polish – Good Taste Dictates Glove Etiquette

By Dot Goodwin

Dressing right is always a partly subjective proposition and in our era a lot of the old rigid “rules of dress” have been loosely treated and lightly taken. As a result, many “must” matters are now matters of taste. Take gloves. It's possible today to go gloveless and still be thought well dressed (except on formal occasions such as weddings where gloves are strictly required). Gloves, like hats, have dropped from the “necessary” to the “optional” class. But with the best-dressed men, and with those who put even a little extra time and thought into their wardrobes, both gloves and hats are indispensible throughout the winter months. 

“What gloves do I wear, and when?” Here are a few guideposts: 

Buck leather or dark gray suede gloves look best with gray or black coats. 

With a navy blue coat, pearl gray suede gloves are the ultimate in good dress. With coats in the brown group (including tan and beige), wear brown leather. In general, contrast the glove shade against that of the coat. 

For example, with a light tan or copper pepper-and-salt tweed, dark, grained pigskin gloves are in order. Note that this combination unites a casual coat with a casual leather. With a solid color or quiet herringbone topcoat, pick a more formal, smooth leather or suede. 

In the bad old days, it was a capital offense to shake a woman’s hand with your glove on. Not so today. Manners have become jet-propelled. It’s now far worse to keep a woman waiting while you shuck off your glove than to shake with it on. Nor should you apologize for a begloved shake. In truth, you're doing HER the favor by not dawdling. 

It’s unnecessary to remove your gloves when shaking a man’s hand. Indoors, you will have shed the things anyhow, leaving them with your hat. In the case of white-gloved ushers at weddings and funerals, of course, the gloves stay on. – The Sun, 1963 

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette for Gloves at Tea

If one lady goes to call upon another a short afternoon visit, not one where she is staying at tea, she would not think it necessary to take off her gloves just for the purpose of shaking hands. The impulse of a younger woman coming up to a tea-table where her older hostess is pouring out teas, is to unglove before touching her hand.

Q.  Is it proper for a lady to remove her gloves before shaking hands with any one? Also what about the gentleman in this case? This is a little bet I read your paper and will see your answer when you find it convenient to reply. – “H.G.”

A.  Just regard it from the simple, common sense point of view and you can easily see that it is a question of circumstances. If one lady meets another lady walking, it would be entirely unnecessary for them both to unglove before shaking hands. If one lady goes to call upon another a short afternoon visit, not one where she is staying at tea, she would not think it necessary to take off her gloves just for the purpose of shaking hands. The impulse of a younger woman coming up to a tea-table where her older hostess is pouring out teas, is to unglove before touching her hand. 

The idea behind this is not to take with your gloved hand, the hand of your elder that is bare and busy among eatables. But no particular rule would be broken if you came in just to say a few words, meaning to depart without eating or drinking, and did not take off your glove. Women would not take off a glove to shake hands with men. Men always should, if possible, when shaking hands with women. I don't mean, again, that gloved hand may not meet gloved hand in the street, but that a man takes his glove off to touch a woman's bare hand on entering her house. 

Questions about gloves are asked often in these days, because many women are new to the wearing of evening gloves. When gloves are worn with evening dress they are not taken off at all except when eating. Then they are to be taken off entirely. They always look awkward when tucked in at the wrist. – San Bernardino Sun, 1931

Etiquette Enthusiast Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia